AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile for $39 Billion

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Two of the nation's largest service providers are combining forces.

By Scott Lowe

Today AT&T announced that it wold be acquiring T-Mobile USA from its current parent company Deutsche Telekom. The two companies have entered a definitive agreement to merge in the cash-and-stock transaction to the tune of $39 billion.

The announcement puts to rest several years worth of rumors regarding a T-Mobile merger, though in the past it was believed that Sprint would be the ones to acquire the struggling provider.

By acquiring T-Mobile, AT&T will become the nation's sole GSM wireless provider, and enable AT&T to take advantage of T-Mobile's network infrastructure, which AT&T says will result in a significant expansion of their 4G LTE network, reaching 95-percent of the U.S. population, adding over 46.5 million subscribers.

Though the acquisition has been announced, the agreement has to clear various regulatory boards and other closing conditions, which could take up to a year.